Woody B

I like the OG4 and 6. I like wood baits, I like flatside cranks and I'm a cheapskate. The 4 and 6 fit all of these requirements. Occasionally I'll get one with the bill glued in really bad. I've got them replaced. So....I bought a couple Rocco 5's. The bill was crooked on both of them. They're a square bill instead of a flatside. Are the Berkley frittsides wood?

I'll admit I get impatient at times. It's kinda funny, you won't meet a more patient person.....but when I'm fishing I prefer moving baits. I would be willing to bet that my catch to cast rate is better on a Devils Horse, T-rig or shakey head than moving baits though. Like Pat, when possible I work lay downs from the side. Docks too. I rarely make a cast "toward" the bank. I like to fish water with stumps. I'll try to line up with a row of stumps to make a cast, regardless of bait or retrieve. I'll admit, in most cases, unless I know there's more cover, or have seen active fish on sonar I can't make myself retrieve a slow working bait all the way back to the boat. Occasionally I've had one hit a Devils Horse after I gave up twitching, and was just reeling it in. It looks similar to a buzz bait while reeling.

Caught 7 today including a couple 4 pounders. 4.01 Spot, and 4.15 Largemouth. (.01 and .15 hundredths, not ounces) The 4.15 LM came on a Devils Horse in 2 feet of water. 4 on a crank, and 2 on a t-rig. The lake was busy. Some people fishing but a BUNCH of people riding around. I saw a couple people wake boarding but most of the wake boats were just riding around making waves.

I got out Saturday for a little while. There were 3 (that I know of) tournaments going on as well as a catfish tournament. I decided to go way up the lake and stay out of their way. I caught 4, all were 16 to 17 inches long. I looked at some waypoint distances while I was up there. I was fishing closer to the landing I use on Lake Norman than the 1 I used to launch my boat. I've wondered about the elevation change on a big lake. The lake level has been consistent. According to my phones GPS the elevation at the top of the lake (at the bottom of the Mountain Island dam) the elevation is 590 feet. Thursday, all the way at the other end of the lake, at the Lake Wylie dam the elevation was 570 feet. This is 22 miles if measured in a straight line. There has to be fall for the water to flow. I guess 1 foot per mile is believable.

The world is full of "beta testers" willing to pay top dollar for the latest and greatest. Unlike sonar stuff I doubt the price will come down any on this trolling motor.

I believe Lakes go through stages. Lake Norman was built ~60 years ago. It was a super lake in the 70's and 80's. I think one of the biggest problems was/is silt. Due to silt buildup, for a lake that's over 32000 acres there's limited places for Largemouth bass to spawn. I hate to admit it, but spotted bass have helped turn Norman back into a decent fishery. It's my understanding that spots tend to spawn deeper than Largemouth, so the silt isn't as big of a problem. My PB came on Norman but it was over 30 years ago. It's also my belief that Striped (and hybrid/bodie/wiper) bass are bad for black bass fisheries. I think "they" have eased up on stocking them in Norman. I didn't see/haven't sought out the study, but a friend told me that an electrofishing showed that only 9% of the black bass population in Norman were Largemouth. 10ish years ago a man caught what he thought was the NC state record Spotted bass. Biologist determined it was a cross/hybrid (whatever you want to call it) from a Largemouth mother, and Spotted bass father. 40 years ago Piedmont Bait and Tackle would have a new recently caught DD picture every time I went in there. I haven't heard of a DD in years. I've never been to Lookout Shoals. I've been to most of the other Catawba river lakes though. A few decades ago my brother in law water skied on every Catawba river lake all on a single day for some kind of Duke Power charity deal. He started a Lake James early in the morning and ended up on Wateree that evening. He said it was a little bit of skiing, and a driving.

That's enough to keep me away from one. It might also explain why it's taken so long to develop the motor.

Bradford Pears are blooming here. I haven't seen any dogwood blooms yet. Water temp was 59 today. I caught 13. One was on a devils horse. (topwater)

I had to take a sick today at work. My arm was in a cast. (don't tell anyone). I caught 13 between 12 and 17 inches. I didn't weigh any. 9 spots and 4 largemouth. The 17 inch largemouth had an injury. I don't think a boat prop could hit in where it was injured. I wonder if a turtle got a hold of it, but it got away. If fought good, and walked on it's tail like is was healthy. Water temp is up to 58. Speaking of weather, my birthday is in ~3 weeks. When I was a kid it snowed us out of school on my birthday 3 years in a row.

Nice bunch of fish Alex. The water sure warmed up quick there. It just got into the 50's here. My GPS lattitude is 35 degrees North. I doubt I'm more than 1 degree North of you. So far it's warmed up quicker here this year than last year. I just looked through my pictures. I've got one that's 49 degrees water temp on March 13. The air temp was 22 when I launched the boat that day. Water wasn't into the 60s here until April last year. We don't have the pollen here that you have yet, but we will soon.

I had a zebco de-liar for years but I haven't been able to find it when I started back fishing. I bought a cheap electronic berkley scale but it wasn't accurate at all. I've got a couple (old) 10 pound weights. They weighed something different every time I'd weigh them. The most either one of them weighed according to it was 9 pounds. A local tackle shop recommend an inexpensive Googan scale that's an ugly green color. My 10 pound weights weigh 9.9, and 9.95 pounds on it. I took the 9.9 one to the post office. It weighed 9.9 there too. The scale had a tape measure but it broke pretty quickly. This is what I used to have.

My boat came with the straps that @gimruis posted. The "axle" broke in one of them. I've got the stainless steel retractable boat buckles now.

I'd guess that at least 1/2 of the fiberglass bass boats I see around here are Nitros. I've told many of them "nice boat" at the ramps. No one has had anything bad to say about them.

I suspect a world record smallie may come from the great lakes, or great lakes area. I'd like to see @A-Jay catch it. The thing going against any new world record (for a well know species) is fishing pressure.

Yep. I'm too busy to be chasing a few pennies off of something. If I want something I'll buy it. If it's expensive I'll save up a while then buy it. I buy most of my stuff local. These people are working selling stuff to feed their families, same as I do repairing vehicles. I don't purposely pay them more, but I don't take food off their table trying to get a deal. I value their friendship, and the fact I can walk in and look at something before I buy more than a few percent discount.

Like @GaryH said call Lithium Hub to see what they recommend. I suspect a 50AH is all you need. I have 2 50's for my 24 volt system. I can't even come close to running them down in a day. (Tracker Classic XL) The 50's are tiny. Ionics have a bluetooth app so you can monitor it while you're fishing to make sure you don't get stranded. If you decide a 50 isn't enough you can add another connected in parallel for a total capacity of 100AH.

I'll go with the Largemouth.

Topwater over flats, if something rolls on it but doesn't take it follow with a T-rig. If they're not interested in top water try a texas rigged lizard with a 1/8 ounce weight or a 1/4 ounce jig with a mann's spinnerbait trailer. (don't tell anyone, it's a secret) Everyone around here fishes spinner baits and buzz baits.

I went back today. Water temp is up to 54, same today as yesterday. I caught 10 bass between 12 and 15 inches, and a DD..........Catfish. I didn't measure it. It was quite a bit longer than my 26 inch net. I got finned to the bone last Summer by a Blue that Mrs B caught so I didn't want to handle this one more than necessary. 13.50 according to my scale. I thought that might be a little heavy. I zeroed it and weighed it twice. My 10 pound weight weighed 9.95 pounds when I got home. Unlike the 53 pounded flathead I caught last year I thought it was a big bass for a while. I saw a silver flash as it swam by the front of the boat toward deeper water. It was really strong, and pretty fast for a cat. It started twisting when I got it turned around. I knew it was a Cat then. I think it's fun to catch fish that weigh more than my 12 pound test line, regardless of species. 5 bass, and the cat were on a DT6. 2 bass were on a Strike King 3xd, 3 were on a T-rig.

Get well soon!!!

I guess I've been doing it wrong. I've been catching buck bass, and doe deer. Seriously though, In most cases I don't think it's intelligence, or even learned behavior. I believe the mature bucks, and trophy bass are born with better instincts than the ones that don't make it. How many mature bucks would be killed (legally, during the daytime) if it wasn't for the rut?

I haven't seen the story. What happened. I've carried for 40 years. Open carry is legal in NC. Concealed carry with a permit. (I carry concealed) If someone points a gun at me they better pull the trigger. That's all I've got to say about that.

I should have laid out of work yesterday. It was nice. A front came through last night. No torrential rains, just light rain and colder temperatures. I had shorts on yesterday. I think the high today was around 50 with light drizzle most of the day. I caught 12, but none were big enough to weigh. I didn't even measure any of them. This biggest one is pictured. I'm optimistically calling it 16 inches. I had a decent (3 poundish?) largemouth on (I think LM, it was walking on it's tail, spots don't usually do that) It was ~30 feet from the boat when it threw my Bandit 300 back at me. Then, after it got off a 12 inch spot hit it. So I lost 1 bass and caught another on the same cast.

I work with the public. Nothing surprises me. Combine this with the fact that there's no way we're all going to like the same thing. I don't pay reviews any attention.

I'm with you Bird. (I'll get to the actual fishing help later) I've helped people in bad situations a couple times. I've also jumped off a few tow vehicles at the ramps and boats on the lake. (Noco should give me a few bucks if all the people who said they were going to buy a jump box actually did) If I catch a fish that's hooked in a way it isn't going to survive I keep it and give it to the people fishing at the landing. When it's cold I use disposable hand warmers. If they still have some warmth left when I'm loading up I'll give them to someone at the landing. A couple times I've backed peoples trailers for them, and even coached them. (I don't volunteer, but have been asked a few times) Regarding helping with actual fishing advice. Only if I'm asked. I make sure they know that I'm NOT an expert. I see the same people over and over at the boat ramps. We often ask each other how we done. I usually have some pictures to show. I've been approached a couple times for advice.